There are a couple things that keep me going as a nerd these days. One of them (obviously) is comics and the other is podcasting. So imagine my excitement when I learned that one of my very favorite podcasts, The Wombmates (starring the illustrious brothers Jason and James Ford) were behind a comic of their own! After so many hours of hearing the boys talk comics, I finally got to read one from them. As you can see from the credits, Jason writes and James edits and models like a sexy pro. I’d not heard of Felipe before this book but he’s on my radar now for sure. The always wonderful Sean Fagan shows his lettering prowess here as well. But enough fuckery, did I like what I read from this band of comic bastards? Read on…

The servant is an epic fantasy tale with all the trimmings. We’ve got warriors, dwarfs, mages, ale and all the things I love about fantasy. The best part is, none of the material feels tired which is a huge compliment to the creative team!

ART:

Looking at the page above, you can already tell that the art makes it a joy to lay your eyes on. Felipe Anguiano employs a really nice style here, sort of half cartoon-half comic and it works very well with the material. Thankfully, his talent allowed him to effectively separate the characters by giving them their own unique looks. I was never confused as to who was who or what was going on. There are also some great ‘shots’ like the last panel of the page above…I thought it felt cinematic and well thought out all the way through. Not sure how I hadn’t seen Felipe’s work until now, he’s really got a good thing going here.

Writing:

Jason Ford really impressed me. He was able to set his world up almost effortlessly and in a small amount of space. The reader is dropped into the story with no idea what’s going on and Ford brings us up to speed with the ease of a seasoned writer. Going to much into the plot of ‘The Servant’ would ruin the fun of you reading it yourself but I will say that it seems we’ll be going on an epic journey with this group. In a non-spoilery voice, I’ll tell you that this first issue is used to smartly introduce us to the cast of characters in an entertaining way that sets up further adventure…what else do you want from an issue #1? Want to know how I knew I really liked it? The first thing I did when I finished it was read it again. That’s always a good sign! Another thing to mention is that it was fucking funny! My favorite character was Chip who makes his debut to the reader by bursting through a door firing eggs at people. One of the Mages says to the other, “At least the eggs aren’t on fire this time.”. It killed me! (See below).

In closing, I have to say I’m exited as hell to keep reading this book and I’ve got my fingers crossed for a Kickstarter in the future so I can own a physical copy! You can check out ‘The Servant’ and all the other Wombmates goodness at http://thewombmates.com